Happy New Year Everyone!

Did you make any new resolutions?  I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions per se… I just commit to continue pursuing my ongoing goals. To generalize, these include “personal development, physical development, and business development.” I guess if I were to make a new resolution for this year it would be “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

To celebrate the start of 2013 I decided to jump into the icy cold waters of Lake Ontario with about 700 hundred other crazy people!  It was the annual Courage Polar Bear Dip in Oakville.  Now that might sound a bit nuts, but it was for a good cause (proceeds went to World Vision), and I enjoy the many health benefits of exposure to cold.  Plus after doing it last year in Toronto I found it an exhilarating way to start start the New Year!

It was actually a lot of fun, and as you can see I really got into character for my “conquest” of the cold. As I mention in the video below, I recommend to everyone to try something new and different in the New Year… to take on a challenging experience that will get you out of your comfort zone. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean jump into a freezing lake; just choose something that appeals to you but that you have not yet had the courage to try. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

As fun as this was, unfortunately it did have some unwanted consequences for me. Because I was running into the water so aggressively and unbeknownst to me the ground beneath the water was covered with large rocks, plus I couldn’t feel my feet at all (SO cold!), at one point my foot smashed down on a rock in the water, twisted, and I felt a little “snap”. Looking back the impact on the side of my foot was probably similar to being smacked with a ball peen hammer.

I still couldn’t really feel much… until about half an hour later once my feet warmed up, and then my right foot was extremely sore and had started to swell up.  Well, the next day bruising set in and it was getting pretty uncomfortable, so I decided to see the doc. So it turns out an X-ray showed a complete fracture of one of my foot bones (my 5th metatarsal), which means I’ll be wearing a cast-boot for 4 to 6 weeks and no weight-bearing lower body exercise until it heals.

                                         

I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t frustrated by this injury, but it doesn’t serve anyone to feel like crap about something, so I always try to look for the positive in everything. This injury will give me a chance to really focus on my upper body training and improve some weak areas that are lagging. I’m also motivated to pay more attention to my nutrition (which wasn’t ideal over the holidays). In addition, I think I’ll get a great workout from using the Battle Rope for my HIIT cardio for a few weeks until I’m allowed back on the bike… I’ll post some videos of that soon. Regardless, I can still keep my legs strong using the leg extension and hamstring curl machines; in fact, the change may benefit my lower body considering that I almost never use that equipment.

Finally, this gives me a perfect opportunity to produce some tutorial videos and articles for you and my other readers related to injury recovery, program adaptation, exercise modification, and corrective exercise over the next few weeks. I know I’m not the only one who wants to stay fit and active despite certain aches, pains, or injuries.

Anyway, I wish you all the best this year. I’m looking forward to 2013… I know it’s going to be amazing!  Stay committed to your goals, keep your focus on the positive, continue to improve yourself, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Remember, it’s ALL small stuff.

Stay fit,

Josh